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tchaikovsky 3rd piano concerto is imo his best. when i heard it i was baffled by who it could be because it sounded too complex in certain respects to be a melodic composer like tchaikovsky.

I notoriously prefer outer movements…..but i think my favorite scherzos is probably bruckner 7. Interesting because Bruckner is otherwise often times a very ponderous, plodding composer. but i remember the first time i heard it, the big augmented chord really hit. it manages to have energy and pace but be sort of noble simultaneously. I also think Bruckner 4 is a great scherzo, the quartal moments with the horns really adds to the vibe.

beethovens 9th, bach st. matthew passion, and many, many others, but most of all….. Let it Go from frozen. I never really hear lyrics so i’ll just leave that part alone even though personally i find “letting go“ to be an overrated concept……but the music itself is terrifyingly bland music theater…..not even much if any orchestration at all, just piano.

Yes! Such a good point! It's really easy to get bogged down trying to write something great, and you aren't going to. You don't know enough yet. And the only way to learn what you need to know is to write. So let go of all your expectations and just play. Do try to polish things a bit as you go, incorporating things you are learning in class, but don't get so twisted up about it that you can't put a thought down on paper. The more you write the better you will get. What we think are the major composers' first works almost certainly weren't. Those are the first ones that were good enough to be shared with anyone other than immediate friends and family, and the ones that were good enough that people held on to copies. I can guarantee, they all wrote lots of bad stuff before they started writing good stuff. So go ahead and get your bad writing out of the way as soon as possible so you can learn from it and start getting better. You don't have a finite set of ideas in you, I promise! There is an expression in the game of Go (it's a bit like chess), "lose your first 100 games quickly." You are going to lose. You don't know enough to win. So don't overthink each move, just play a lot, and you'll start getting better.

Hi Eva, Some things that I find helpful... Get your phone out and use it to make an audio recording so you don't have to write down what you come up with at the same time that you are generating musical ideas. Get some ideas to play with first, and then if you can't remember that good harmonic idea you had, you can listen back to your recording. Find a classical piece you have never listened to before, or at least don't know very well. Listen to just the first few bars, while humming along, then turn off the music, but continue humming. You'll have a feeling for how you want it to go next, and then next after that... Inevitably this won't be the same way the original composer developed things. Use that as starting material for one instrument of your quartet, then go back and start expanding the line, adding harmonies for the other instruments, and when you are far enough away mentally from the original piece you listened to that you are sure you aren't accidentally going to copy the composer's ideas note for note, write a fresh beginning. Find a piece of classical music you don't know well and listen while humming with the volume turned WAY down so you can't quite hear what is going on. Even turned down to the point that it becomes almost white noise, you'll still feel a sense of structure coming through your headphones, and your brain will try to fill in all the gaps of what it can't hear. Hum away for a minute or so, then go back and listen to what you hum-recorded and use that as your starting material, expanding on that line and harmonizing it. Go for a walk somewhere with few people and hum or whistle to yourself. There is something about being in motion and the rhythm of footfalls that can just wring music out of you. If you think well at the piano, you can always noodle at the piano, but it sounds like you already do that and are getting stuck, so maybe try getting away from the keyboard? Good luck!

You are a phenomenal pianist. You're one of those players that could move me playing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. We'd love to see a score if you use notation software! If not, no biggie, your performance is incredible. You seem like you have a lot to offer our community, so I'm eager to hear your advice to the piano compositions submitted here. Welcome, and thanks for sharing!

Hey welcome oh no Henry beat me to it as usual, I like the Haydn idea, and also maybe explore the main foundations of what makes music music (especially from that era). Scour youtube on the simple things: How to write a melody, harmony, counterpoint, etc. etc. If I were you, I wouldn't write something with the intention of being legendary. Just practice the fundamentals, and write something that works. If the 18th century is your starting point, listen to the "hits" from that period. Find composers you like, and keep your piece concise and simple. Practice the EXECUTION of completing a finished product. Ask lots of questions, and ultimately have fun. That's why we all do this after all 🙂

Many thanks for your tips! I'll have to check out that video. The fast section is a little bitonal in the piano part I think; but hopefully it's not too grating? It was very bitonal in my previous draft (not posted here); but I toned it down a bit. I did think of adding some trills in the violin, and maybe in the piano. So I could have some imitation there perhaps. Have you posted your latest composition yet btw?

Hello @Eva Browning, Welcome to the forum! Do you listen to String Quartets? If no, I think Haydn’s op.33 quartets would be a good starting point to listen with! That will definitely helps with your quartet writing. Also do you learn the traditional SATB rules? Even though you don’t have to stringently follow the rules when writing, knowing the principle will definitely help. Also, what is the designated length of the piece? That will affect your choice of the musical form of your piece to write. What mood do you want? What key will it be in? Also what style would you love to have? These questions may have you write! And you can also visit our fellow members’ posts, particularly the ones in the Chamber Music forum. They will for sure help with your writing since composers in different levels are all featured here! Thx for joining us! Henry

Hi @Alex Weidmann, I listen to the latest version. I like the general mood of the piece which is apparent in your style: modal, refreshing and airy. I think there could be more passages when the clarinet and violin play together as they only combine at the end. Maybe some imitations between them would be great! On the left hand figuration in b.46 I think it’s too strings-like; maybe using octaves in 16th notes will be better than repeated notes! I like this part’s excitement. The modulation sounds great too, which induces me to think of Mike’s new video on modulations! Thx for sharing! Henry

Thank you! I'm trying to incorporate @Henry Ng Tsz Kiu's suggestions, THEN it'll definitely sound better!

this is gold!! thank you!

I think this one sounds better.

Hi @Guardian25, I really like the quartile chords you use, this make the piece having a slight refreshing mint flavour in its tragic mood. The melody is very lovely and I like the mood. It’s simple but it’s touching. I think you don’t have to add the “4” above all the semiquavers! Also, given how expressive the cello melody is, you should add more slurs for it ( and for the piano)!! For b.29 and b.42 onwards I think it will be quite difficult for the cello to sustain the octave for so long a time! Thx for sharing! Henry

Hi @Cafebabe, Basically the form of the piece is ABCA with the C section the longest. I really enjoy the modulation to C minor in the C section, but you should use Eb instead of D#! Beware of the redundant bass clefs in between! I think you can develop A, B and C section for longer. The A section is for me too short to be the main section when C section is longer and more attractive. The B section is too diminutive to have much attraction! It’s light hearted and in dance rhythm and for sure you can develop more on it! Thx for sharing! Henry

Here’s a duet I composed for Cello and Piano! I tried to make use of more “modern” harmonic ideas with this piece. Overall, I find it decent, and probably would change a couple of things. Any feedback is welcomed!

Hey @PeterthePapercomPoser, I think these short pieces are really wonderful, particularly with your understanding of harmonic and tone colour! I really love the vibraphone here. When combining with the often whole tone harmony it’s so mesmerising (the same word I use for my last review on your piece LoL). The violin melody just comes from the same harmonies with the vibraphone, but the feeling is so different. The second to last bar’s scale is really nice with those reflection of a 014 set. Thx for sharing! Henry

Hi @Jackie, Welcome to the forum! Very nice playing! The piece looks not too easy to play with! Even though the piece is quite similar to Chopin’s Revolutionary Etude, I quite like the energy in it. Thx for sharing and thx for joining! Henry

Hi @Giacomo925, Long time no see! I share the same thoughts… my life these few months has been really busy, and I used the only time remaining for composing, so I had no time for reviewing any pieces here…. But now the piece is almost finished so I can review some posts here as rest! On the music, I love most the interaction of the four parts, as every part gets its melodic part. I always think Piano Trio hard to write, it’s easy to get the strings too thin, or making the piano overly hyped, or making the cello boring, but I think you balance well here! Getting to Eb minor in development is nice. Just the modulation from Eb minor tonic minor in b.136 to 138 ab bit abrupt for me. I remember does the same thing in the first movement of his Piani Quartet no.3, but he modulates from Eb minor to B major to G major and then C minor, and he makes use of the drama of the abrupt key changes (to quote @chopin’s video ! (Btw I forget you are named Chopin here….))! For the ending in tonic major, I hope there will be more struggle between the tonic major and minor! B.91 and similar passages can be difficult, but I think it’s playable. Thx for sharing. Can’t wait for the 2nd movement! Henry

Using cards and dice to guide instrumentation is really creative. Choosing the violin as the main solo instrument and the vibraphone for accompaniment based on the suits drawn adds an interesting dimension to the piece.

Thank you so much, Peter. Yes, I wrote it as a preparatory Etude for the Revolutiinary.

Hello @Jackie and welcome to the forum! The accompaniment figurations in this sometimes remind me of Chopin's Revolutionary Etude (the retransitition at 1:58 especially). I personally enjoyed the waltz like middle section the most - your harmony is very romantic and builds tension and emotion beautifully. The long leading melodic line is also very passionate. It only lets up into a little sweetness in the middle section which I really love. Thanks for sharing this wonderful piece! Great performance as well!

I have another Muzoracle casting for y'all. (Muzoracle is a storytelling/divination tool similar to the Tarot card deck, but with cards with musical concepts and 12-sided Musician's dice and Solfege dice.) This time, Pearl asked the Muzoracle if she should teach in a public school: My interpretation of the cards and dice are displayed below. The instrumentation of the piece was guided by the suits of the cards drawn. Since the card on the left is a Minor 6th of Strings, I chose Violin as the main solo instrument. Both the card on the middle left and far right are in the suit of Percussion so I chose the Vibraphone to accompany. If you'd like to find out more about Muzoracle and how castings are interpreted go here: https://muzoracle.com/ This short representation of Pearl's Casting is about a minute long. The piece is in A, since the black 12-sided Musician's Die landed on that tonal center. I then made harmonic/melodic underdrawings that I used in the composition of the music. Since the solfege dice landed on Me, Le, Re and Se this corresponded to the tones C, F, B, and Eb. I then used the interval cards to elaborate on the harmony in the ascending or descending direction according to the casting: In order to give the piece some harmonic and melodic contrast, half way through I transposed these figurations by a Minor 6th down since the casting is descending overall and the first card drawn was a Minor 6th: If you've gotten this far, thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy listening to this short chamber work I wrote to represent Pearl's casting. Comments, suggestions, or critiques are of course, always welcome.

Hi @Henry Ng Tsz Kiu, Many thanks for having taken the time to give me your feedback, that's very much appreciated, and it will definitely help to improve! Does it give a feeling of "too many things packed in one"? Or on the contrary, is it too repetitive? Yes, I wanted to create an effect of voices answering one-another Maybe you're right, I will give it a think! I played a bit around, and went for A natural, followed by A#. Thanks for the tip Absolutely, I'm not super good at spotting those mistakes -> all corrected 😉 ! Take care, Julien tableau 5.mid